This invention relates generally to floor scrubbing vehicles, and more particularly to a unique mechanism for mounting the scrubbing apparatus.
Floor sweeping and scrubbing machines generally include more than one scrub brush and a laterally extending flexible squeegee. The scrub brushes and their respective rotational drive motors are typically mounted in a housing, or scrub head. This scrub head is variously located at the front, middle, or rear of the scrubbing machine. The scrub head is generally attached to the frame of the machine through a vertical motion mechanism so that the brushes may be raised from contact with the floor for inactive transportation and lowered into contact with the floor for active sweeping and scrubbing. Each scrub brush is mounted so as to remain in contact with the floor when scrubbing even though the floor may be uneven. The scrub head and squeegee normally do not extend beyond the horizontal limits of the machine frame, because they would be vulnerable to damage by collision with permanent objects. However, because the machine frame normally extends laterally further than the scrub head, the scrub brushes cannot scrub in close proximity to a wall. One solution for this problem is to provide a scrubbing side brush at a front corner of the machine extending out forwardly and laterally beyond the machine frame to scrub along walls. Unfortunately, the scrubbing pattern on the floor for a side brush often fails to match the pattern of the main brushes. Furthermore, a side brush may track outside of the pickup squeegee on turns due to its forward outwardly disposed location, and the side brush consequently leaves a trail of water and cleaning solution on the floor.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a floor scrubbing vehicle or machine having a unique mounting mechanism for the scrub brushes and squeegee which permits horizontal motion of the scrub brushes and squeegee together, and in addition a novel hinge arrangement which permits the scrub brushes and squeegee to swing out away from the vehicle about a generally vertical axis. The scrub brushes and their respective drive motors are mounted onto a scrub head. The squeegee is mounted so as to move horizontally in conjunction with the scrub head. The scrub head and squeegee are mounted to the frame through a mechanism which allows for selective lateral motion of the scrub head and squeegee. The operator may selectively position the scrub head and squeegee laterally in order to scrub along a wall. The mechanism is also spring biased outwardly so that if any component extending beyond the horizontal limits of the machine frame contacts a permanent object, the scrub head and squeegee is free to be pushed inwardly by the object to avoid damage, and subsequently to automatically extend laterally outwardly to resume contact with the wall following passage of the permanent object. In addition, the scrub head and squeegee are mounted to the scrubbing machine frame by a hinge which allows the scrub head and squeegee to rotate about a vertical axis and swing out away from the machine frame. The scrub head and squeegee can thus break away from the machine frame if the extended scrub head and squeegee collide with an immovable object. The hinge further allows the scrub brush and squeegee to intentionally be pivoted out from the machine frame for the purposes of repair or maintenance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a unique floor scrubbing vehicle having a mechanism allowing horizontal motion of the scrub brushes in conjunction with a squeegee.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel resilient coupling between the machine frame and the scrub head and squeegee so that the scrub head and squeegee will automatically retract in the event of striking an immovable obstacle and automatically extend following passage of the obstacle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel hinge and release means so that the scrub head and squeegee may rotate about a vertical axis, to prevent damage from contact with an immovable object, as well as to facilitate repair and maintenance.
These and other advantages and features will become apparent from the following description and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.